ED2019 4/5 Reviews ED2019 Music Reviews

Ayman Jarjour, Syrian Guitarist (Ayman Jarjour)

By | Published on Wednesday 7 August 2019

There was no hip hop – that was a mistake in the Fringe Programme – so I turned my baseball cap the other way round and settled down for an hour of classical guitar. Villa-Lobos’ ‘Prelude Number One’ was delicate and lyrical; the meter so cleverly interpreted I was on the edge of my seat, deliciously anticipating the next phrase. For Nikita Koshkin’s ‘Usher Waltz’, a darkly disintegrating work inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘Fall of the House of Usher’, Jarjour skilfully used violent string techniques in a witty and compelling way (without any distracting snappage). Jarjour’s own medley of Arab folk melodies was powerful. This was a truly international and virtuosic programme, mixing the well-loved with some newer pieces.

Stockbridge Church, 3 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | [Louise Rodgers]

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